ASEAN welcomes racers at the finish line of ASEAN-China Rally 2016

Closing Ceremony of the ASEAN-China International Tourism Assembly and Journalists Rally, 11 December 2016.  Photo:  Permanent Representative of Singapore Tan Hung Seng with Singapore members of the car rally team.  From left - Chang Kok Yew, Member of the Singapore Motor Sports Association (SMSA) General Committee, Ambassador Tan, Ms Han Yong May, Zaobao Digital Editor of Lianhe Zaobao, and Mdm Tan Soo Hoon

11-Dec-2016

Source:  ASEAN Secretariat News

ASEAN welcomes racers at the finish line of ASEAN-China Rally 2016

JAKARTA, 11 December 2016 – The ASEAN Secretariat welcomed 25 vehicles and 100 racers and journalists from ASEAN Member States and China today, as the ASEAN-China International Touring Assembly and the ASEAN–China Journalists Rally 2016 (together known as “CAITA”) concludes.  Dr AKP Mochtan, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs; Xu Bu, Ambassador of China Mission to ASEAN; and Tan Hung Seng, Permanent Representative of Singapore to ASEAN received the group at the finishing line.

The CAITA is part of the activities to commemorate the 25th anniversary of ASEAN–China dialogue relations. It is also one of the several events of the China-ASEAN Expo held annually in Nanning, People’s Republic of China.

“This rally is a very good example of people-to-people exchange between ASEAN and China. I believe the racers can appreciate and better understand each other’s culture,” said DSG Mochtan in his Welcoming Remarks at the Closing Ceremony.

The racers and journalists had departed from Nanning on 23 November 2016 and travelled the route of Nanning-Hanoi-Vientiane-Phitsanulok-Hpa an-Sukothai-Pattaya-Siem Reap-Bangkok-Hat Jay-Ipoh-Kuala Lumpur-Singapore-Yogyakarta before they finally arrived in Jakarta.

“The fact that your incredible journey began in Nanning and visited eight out of the ten ASEAN Member States, including for the first time in Myanmar, demonstrates the good connectivity between China and ASEAN. More importantly, it reminds us of our commitment to do more,” said Ambassador Hung Seng to the participants of the rally.

In his remarks, Ambassador Xu Bu said “I believe that China-ASEAN International Touring Assembly and China-ASEAN Journalists Rally will achieve new heights of success, become a new brand of China-ASEAN cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and make greater contribution to the China-ASEAN relations.”

Except for 2008, due to the Beijing Olympic Games, CAITA has successfully been held for nine occasions with participants from all ASEAN Member States and China, covering a distance of 10,000 kilometers in each journey in the last ten years.

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